


Lessons in Life and Cookery

by ShadowHaloedAngel



Series: One Night [11]
Category: Carol (2015), Ocean's 8 (2018), The House with a Clock in its Walls (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Historical, But Time Period, Comfort Food, Cooking Lessons, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Everyone should know how to cook something, F/F, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Kinda, Minor Spoilers, Not POV, POV Alternating, Time Travelling Lesbians, life skills, parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23740462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowHaloedAngel/pseuds/ShadowHaloedAngel
Summary: Alternating between the past and the future, set some time during Out of Time. Florence and Carol decide it's as good a chance as any to teach the girls some life skills. Some things you always remember, and some foods will always feel like home.Minor spoilers for the as-yet-unwritten end of Out of Time, because everyone needs fluff now including me and the alternative was waiting god knows how long to post this.
Relationships: Carol Aird/Florence Zimmermann, Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean
Series: One Night [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1416958
Comments: 50
Kudos: 24





	1. Chocolate Chip Cookies

_Appearing back in the alley in New Jersey had been disorientating enough for Debbie, but the main relief was finding that Lou had come back with her. She wasn't sure how Florence had swung that, but it took away some of the uncertainty. Going home hadn't exactly been a good option, but they didn't really have any other ones. Debbie was honestly just glad that she'd been able to get a message to Danny, and gladder still that he'd already moved out to find his own place for college._

_It wasn't that much of a surprise to find that what he appeared to be studying at college was mostly his girlfriend Tess, but he was still willing to step up and give the two of them somewhere to live. His ability to forge their parents' signatures had also come in handy, and Debbie wasn't about to ask too many questions about how he'd managed to get Lou registered at the school either. Theirs was a family where it didn't pay to ask too many questions._

_The upshot was that a lot of the time they more or less had the apartment to themselves. It was small, but it was manageable, especially when Danny was out quite so much. He was a good big brother, and Debbie would be forever grateful about the way he'd just accepted Lou without question, and moved heaven and earth to make it work._

_There wasn't exactly a lot either of them could do to show their appreciation. Danny had at least interceded with the Oceans so that Debbie continued to get her allowance, and he'd helped them both find waitressing jobs which would pay them under the table. Honestly, the threat of Danny Ocean finding out his little sister had been mistreated probably carried more weight than the Department of Labor, so for the moment, everyone was happy, and she and Lou were managing to support themselves._

_The first time she'd got her pay packet, Debbie had headed to the supermarket. They needed food anyway, but there were a few ingredients in particular she was looking out for since it didn't have to be quite the bare essentials this time. Mostly she was planning to save every penny she earned over and above what they needed to live, but this was something worth celebrating, and she wanted to give something back to Danny._

_If he wasn't there more often, he at least came to check on them once a week to make sure they were doing okay and there wasn't anything they needed, that there was food in the fridge, the heating worked, and they were safe. When he showed up this time, Lou was on the couch in black battered jeans and a t-shirt, sucking on the end of a pen and staring at her algebra homework. Debbie, on the other hand, was in the tiny little kitchenette, wearing an apron and oven gloves and pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven._

_Danny stared._

_"...What the hell is going on? Is this another magic spell or something?"_

_Lou huffed out a laugh from the couch._

_Debbie set the tray down carefully and braced her hands on her hips. "...Really, this is the thanks I get for baking you cookies?"_

_"...Debbie, I love you, you know that, but I have known you your whole life and I know that you are a disaster in the kitchen. You burned a salad when you were helping mom for that dinner party. And I do not mean just the croutons. Lettuce is not meant to be black. It's like 99% water. I do not understand how you achieved that."_

_"It's not my fault, mom told me to put the salad out of the way, there was no space other than the stovetop, and someone turned the hob on underneath it. I still think it was sabotage."_

_Danny gave her a pitying look of loving exasperation._

_"...There was the time you burned water making pasta."_

_"Just shut up now, I made you cookies. Be a gentleman about it. Show some gratitude."_

_Danny looked at the tray. He had to admit they were pretty good. They were golden brown, studded with chocolate chips and what looked like nuts. He sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically because Debbie wasn't the only dramatic one in the family and he loved poking fun at his little sister sometimes, and reached to take one._

_He took a bite while she glared at him, mock-threatening him with a spatula, and his eyes widened in surprise. He ate the other half, then licked the crumbs and smears of chocolate from his fingers._

_"...Okay those are fucking delicious. Where the hell did you learn to make those?"_

_Debbie shrugged, using the spatula to set the cookies on a cooling rack Danny hadn't been aware he owned._

_"Doesn't matter. Look, you really saved our skins, and I wanted to say thanks. I know you're my brother, but you really came through for me. You've always been there for me. There weren't exactly a lot of things I could do to say thanks, so I made you some cookies. It's not much, but..."_

_Danny swiped another one, grinning when Debbie swatted at his hand with the spatula. He took a big bite and grinned, chocolate on his teeth._

_"You're welcome. You're family, and it's not like it's your fault dad sucks. Anyway, I know it'll work out in the long run, and for now you can keep paying your rent in cookies."_

_Debbie rolled her eyes, shoving her hands into her pockets and turning to look at him, narrow hips popped to the side and curtain of thick chestnut hair cascading around equally narrow shoulders._

_"...I guess that seems fair."_

_Danny grinned, punching her lightly on the upper arm._

_"...I'm a very reasonable landlord."_

_She gave him an incredibly unamused look, but her lips twitched a little, and Danny pulled her into a hug._

_"...Thanks sis. I'm proud of you. And I want that cookie recipe."_

_She pulled away from him with a playful shove._

_"Nuh-uh, brother. Never gonna happen."_

~

"Has either of you learned to cook?"

Both Debbie and Lou shook their heads, and there were certainly different degrees of enthusiasm in the response.

"Are you asking because we're girls, or...?"

"No," Carol replied calmly, with a slightly patient smile, "I'm asking because everyone should be able to feed themselves, and it's a nice thing to be able to do for yourself and others. I learned from my mother, Florence learned from her mother. It doesn't really sound like either of you come from places where someone might take the time to teach you. Since we have a little time to spend together, would you like to learn? Maybe Florence could teach you how to make her chocolate chip cookies?"

Lou nodded. 

"I'd like that. Thanks. I know it's probably like... a family secret recipe or some shit, but..."

Florence smiled. "They are, but you are family now. Perhaps it would be nice for you to have something to remember us by when you go home?"

All three sets of eyes slid to Debbie, and she shrugged, squeezing Lou's hand under the table. 

"...I guess that could be fun. Thanks."

Carol smiled. 

"Wonderful."

Florence pushed her chair back from the table and went to the cupboard, starting to pull out ingredients.

"If you girls could start getting breakfast cleaned up, then perhaps we can make a start, then we could have fresh cookies for a snack later."

Lou and Debbie both stood and began clearing the breakfast dishes from the table. 

~

"Now, there are a lot of different cookie recipes, and the basic ingredients tend to be the same in all of them. Flour, sugar, fat, things like that... they're the building blocks of any cookie, but it's the choices you make about the blocks you use, and how you bring them together. Baking is a lot like magic in that respect."

Florence allowed herself a little smile, and Carol chuckled, sat at the kitchen table with a cigarette and a cup of coffee, legs crossed as she watched the three of them fondly. Lou nodded, drinking this in with the same quiet seriousness that she regarded everything. She soaked up information like a sponge. Debbie, on the other hand, looked sceptical. 

"...Look, it's not that I don't believe you. And your cookies are fu- are absolutely delicious. I'm not denying that. But my track record in the kitchen is not good, and I really don't think you're going to be able to fix that."

Florence tilted her head, considering Debbie with the same incisiveness as always. 

"...Has anyone ever taught you properly?"

"Well yeah, obviously. I'm not an idiot."

"I didn't ask if you were an idiot, I asked if anyone had ever taught you properly. I know you're not an idiot, but teaching properly requires patience, demonstration, explanation, and the freedom to make mistakes."

Debbie stared at her for a second, then ducked her head and scuffed her foot on the floor, back to being brittle and insecure again.

"...Alright then, I guess not."

Florence shifted her attention to Lou. 

"Have you done much cooking?"

Lou shook her head.

"Not really. Most of the time I haven't really been living in places with kitchens to be honest."

"Alright. That makes sense," Florence accepted with equanimity. 

Lou nodded. She appreciated the way nobody made a big deal out of revelations like that here. It made it... easier to talk about things, a little. It meant it didn't feel like they were judging her. It felt safer to talk, and being able to talk about it let her have the freedom to acknowledge how bad things were in her own time, because she didn't have to defend herself either. 

"Now. As I was saying, any cookie will have some ingredients in common. Flour, fat, and sugar. Changing the nature of those ingredients, adjusting the ratio, adding other things, all of those change the properties of the cookie. For my chocolate chip cookies, there are a few things that I do differently."

She finished setting things out on the counter, then paused and conjured up a purple apron with frills at the edges, tied neatly in a bow behind her back.

"Carol, could you conjure up some aprons for my assistants, please?"

Carol smiled and waved her hand. Two aprons appeared, one blue and one red. Lou took the blue one with thanks and pulled it over her head, tying it behind her own back.

"Thanks," Debbie muttered, reaching for the red one and pulling it on. Lou was the one who stepped behind her and tied the sash.

"We're going to have two bowls, one for wet ingredients, and one for dry ingredients, so you get to have one each. Who wants which?"

Debbie shrugged, reluctantly volunteering, "...I guess I'll take the dry ingredients? Less can go wrong with those probably."

"And I'll take the wet ones," Lou said. 

Florence handed each of them a bowl, and handed Debbie a set of purple measuring cups. 

"You first, Debbie. We'll start with two and a quarter cups of all purpose flour. Scoop it out of the bag, tap it carefully to make sure it's settled, and then level it off. Here's a spoon, it can make it easier."

Debbie swallowed, but shoved the cup into the flour bag with her usual bravado. 

"...What if I get this wrong?"

"Well, this is the first thing, so if you get this wrong then it's very easy to measure it out again. If it goes wrong after this, then we can start again. It's not a problem."

"...Okay. So what else counts as a dry ingredient?"

"The other things going in this bowl are baking soda, a little pinch of salt, and cornstarch."

"...Cornstarch? In chocolate chip cookies?"

Florence smiled. 

"It's one of the secret ingredients. It helps to make them soft."

"And if this is the dry ingredients, how come the sugar isn't going in here?"

"Good question. The sugar goes in with the wet ingredients, partially because although white sugar is dry, brown sugar tends to be a little wetter, and we're going to use both kinds. That's another one of the secrets to this. It's perfectly fine to just use white sugar, but if you use a mixture of white and brown, it makes a better cookie. You can just use brown too, but both of them have different qualities they bring. The brown sugar is soft and moist, it makes for a richer flavour, and it also helps keep the cookie soft. You can use light or dark brown sugar, personally I prefer dark. It's a little wetter, but it gives a kind of caramel flavour to the cookie, or toffee, which light brown sugar doesn't."

Florence smiled. 

"You know, the reason it's more moist is that brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added to it. Different amounts of molasses give you light or dark brown sugar. That's where the extra flavour comes from too."

"What's the white sugar do?" Lou asked, staring at the different bags of sugar from behind her messy fringe. 

"The white sugar helps it spread, and keeps it crisper because it's dry. You need a little bit of crispness otherwise it's not really a cookie anymore."

"...Right. I guess that makes sense."

"So, how much cornstarch am I adding in here?" Debbie asked, her hackles no longer raised in the face of patient explanation. 

Florence smiled. 

"We need one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch, one teaspoon of baking soda, and a pinch of salt."

Debbie nodded, eyes scanning the ingredients set out along the counter until she found what she needed and selected the measuring spoons, intent concentration on her face. 

Florence turned to Lou, who immediately focused on her, almost standing to attention. 

"Alright, how do I start?"

"We need three quarters of a cup of brown sugar and half a cup of white sugar."

Lou nodded, grabbing the measuring cups and starting on the contents of her bowl. 

"To that, we're going to add one and a half sticks of butter, but we need to melt it first and let it cool a little."

Lou looked up with a slight frown. 

"...Why are we melting it?"

"Well, there are two advantages to melting it. One is that melted butter is a lot easier to stir, so you don't get as tired mixing everything together, and the other, which is more important, is that using melted butter helps to make the cookies chewy. I always think it's nicer to have a chewy cookie."

"Yeah, your cookies are the best balanced I've tasted," Debbie said, leaning back against the counter where she had finished adding her ingredients to the bowl. 

Florence laughed and handed her a whisk. 

"Good. Mix those together now, carefully. I'll melt the butter."

She put one and a half sticks of butter into a little pyrex bowl and waved her hand over it, then glanced back over her shoulder to Carol. 

"You know, I still can't make sense of your antiquated American system of measuring things like this. Grams made so much sense."

Carol laughed, flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette into the ash tray, eyes bright. 

"Maybe so, darling, and in magic I wouldn't disagree with you, but you protest a lot for someone who has adapted well enough to make cookies like this."

"I am very versatile," Florence replied, her nose in the air.

"That much I already knew." Carol winked, and Debbie rolled her eyes while Lou grinned at the sugar she had measured into her bowl. 

Florence clapped her hands together, turning back to her students. 

"The butter should have cooled a little now Lou, so please add that to the sugar and mix it in well until there aren't any lumps of sugar left."

Lou took the whisk that Debbie had finished with, poured the butter from the pyrex into her bowl, and beat it together with the sugar with a look of fierce concentration on her face. 

"Good, that looks very good. So now we add to that one egg..." Florence took the egg and cracked it on the side of the bowl so it went neatly in with the butter and sugar, stepping back to let Lou beat that in too, and picking up another egg which she cracked into the little pyrex bowl, now miraculously clean. "And then we add an extra egg yolk. That helps bind the dough together and helps make the cookies chewy too. There are plenty of things the white can be used for separately, and I do find it makes a difference to add the extra yolk."

Florence neatly scooped the yolk from the bowl and added it to Lou's ingredients. 

When everything was properly combined, she smiled. 

"Alright, that looks very good. Well done. Now we add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients."

Lou looked up hesitantly, and at Florence's encouraging nod poured the mixture into Debbie's bowl. 

Florence handed Debbie a wooden spoon. 

"Here you go, now it's your turn again. Mix everything together gently. It'll be a nice soft dough. Then we fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans. You bring it together, and Lou can fold in the goodies. Then we chill it for two or three hours."

Debbie stared. 

"...Two or three hours?"

"You can chill it up to about three days, but it needs to be at least two hours. That's a very important step too. It lets all of the ingredients settle together, and helps them stop spreading so that the whole sheet becomes one huge cookie. It keeps them thicker too. The dough also freezes, and then you can cook it from frozen so that you can have one or two fresh hot cookies whenever you would like them. It's a very good recipe."

"That makes sense," Lou said. 

Debbie finished mixing the dough and stepped back, glancing up at Florence almost hesitantly. 

"...Is this okay?"

Florence stepped closer and inspected the contents of the bowl, then nodded, smiling. 

"Yes, that looks very good. Well done. Now we add three quarters of a cup of plain chocolate chips, and half a cup of chopped pecans."

Debbie added the chocolate, Lou added the nuts, and then Florence handed Lou the spoon. 

"Very good, now... fold those through and we'll leave the dough to chill. There's one more little secret to the cookies which comes when we shape them, so I'll share that with you later, because it's much easier to show than to tell something like that..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have not tested this recipe, but this is what I based this chapter on.
> 
> https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/


	2. Chicken ala King

_"Why are you boiling chicken?"_

_"I'm not boiling it, I'm poaching it. It's different."_

_"You can poach meat?"_

_Lou focused on the knife in her hand as she slit the chicken breasts into narrow fillets, and not on Tammy's commentary from the living room._

_"Yes. You can poach meat."_

_"...Okay, and you're poaching meat because...?"_

_"Because I'm making dinner."_

_"This seems like a lot of effort to go to just for dinner."_

_"It's our anniversary," Lou replied evenly, checking the pan was boiling as she dropped the chicken in and set the timer going._

_Tammy blinked._

_"So wait... which anniversary is this again?"_

_Lou didn't even bother to look over at her this time. It wasn't the first comment that had come her way from the battered couch tucked under the window._

_"Fifth."_

_"Seriously?"_

_"Yes, seriously."_

_"...You met when you were fourteen?"_

_"Yes, we met when we were fourteen."_

_"I didn't think you were even here when you were fourteen."_

_"It was the year I came over. Do we have to go through this?"_

_"...So it's your fifth anniversary. You're somehow still together, which is... unreal, to be honest. And you're celebrating by cooking...?"_

_"Chicken a la king."_

_"...You're celebrating by cooking one of the most retro foods known to man. It has to be like the only vaguely palatable dish to come out of the fifties. Everything else involved... inhuman amounts of gelatin."_

_"Yes, I'm cooking something retro. Why is this a matter of such interest again?"_

_"I guess I just do not understand why an Australian nineteen year old is cooking chicken a la king for her miraculous fifth anniversary with her American girlfriend. Who is also nineteen. The level of commitment you two show to each other is inhuman. And you're celebrating it with something... bland and... mushy. I mean I honestly just thought it came in cans."_

_Lou flicked her eyes up from the pan she was stirring._

_"You know, you can cut the disdain out any time now. Any time at all. Also, as you so pertinently noted, it is in fact our anniversary. Our fifth anniversary. Which is a significant milestone. And you are, in fact, in our apartment, and while I am tolerating you right now, when Debbie gets back you can politely go fuck yourself."_

_Tammy rolled her eyes and settled back on the couch._

_"Fine. But there's gotta be a reason for it. So why are you trying to celebrate with chicken a la king?"_

~

"You know, since I've taught you how to make my cookies, I think it's Carol's turn to teach you something," Florence observed over dinner, shooting a teasing look at her lover as she sipped her wine. "You can't go through life on cookies alone. Though I believe Jonathan is trying."

Carol chuckled, and Debbie and Lou both cleared the last forkfuls from their plates, munching away in contented silence. 

Lou delicately wiped a smear of creamy sauce away with her napkin, and swallowed. 

"...Well how about this? You made this, right?"

Carol blinked, looking surprised and pleased. 

"Yes, I did... do you like it?"

"It's really good."

Debbie nodded in enthusiastic agreement as she sipped her chocolate milk. 

"Yeah, it is... I really like it. Honestly I think I've put on a few pounds since we got here and I really can't be mad about it."

"That's not a bad thing, necessarily." Lou's eyes were sharp as she looked at Debbie across the table, and the brunette ducked her head a little and nodded. 

"...Thanks. No but seriously this is... really good. What's it called?"

"Chicken a la king. It's... not actually French. It's classic American comfort food, though, and it does well for dinner parties as well as less formal occasions. I like it with rice like this, but it can also go with pasta, or... toast, or on biscuits... anything really?"

Debbie hummed, tilting her head to the side, considering. 

"...I think we have Chicken a la King still in the nineties, but it doesn't taste like this. Just comes in a can. Or sometimes for school lunch or whatever. Definitely wouldn't even have known this was the same thing."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Carol smiled, then shifted her gaze, half-lidded, to Florence as she allowed her voice to take on a teasing tone, "Personally I find that it's a very good dish to make for someone you love."

Florence smiled from behind her glass, a hint of a blush on her cheeks as her eyes danced. 

"...Well, I suppose I can vouch for that."

"Maybe you could teach us tomorrow?" Lou suggested, and Carol smiled. 

"I'd be happy to."

~

"Now, you're sure you don't mind eating the same thing two nights in a row?" Carol asked, and both girls shook their heads. 

"No, we're sure, really. It's a good way to tell if we've got it right or not."

"...And I'm pretty sure I could probably eat that every night and be happy," Debbie muttered.

"Both of us probably could," Lou agreed with a shrug, "Honestly I don't think I've ever eaten this well in my life."

Carol hesitated, then squeezed each of them on the shoulder and handed them their aprons. 

"...Well. You'll always be welcome here. Somewhere to come for a warm bed and a good meal. Though hopefully once we've managed to sort out whatever is going on here you'll be... back to your own time. Still. Who can know what the future holds."

She took a deep breath and turned to the counter, changing the subject in an attempt to steady all three of them. 

"...So, we'll start by poaching the chicken. Water, white wine, bay leaves, and lemon juice."

"Um... there's no cream here?" Debbie asked, staring at the ingredients Carol had lined up on the counter. 

"...No. It's... I suppose more of a bechemel sauce than it is cream. That's where the richness comes from. Debbie, could you please put six cups of water and two cups of white wine in that pan? And then juice that lemon and add that in too. Lou, could you please cut these chicken breasts up into tenders?"

"Sure," Debbie reached for the cup and started measuring water into the pan. "How many bay leaves? They go in too right?"

Carol smiled. 

"Four. Yes, they do."

"Right. Anything else?"

"No, just water, wine, lemon juice and bay leaves, then we need to get it up to a boil to poach the chicken in. It keeps it tender and juicy."

"Really?" Debbie wrinkled her nose a little, "We're boiling meat?"

"Poaching," Carol corrected gently, and the brunette shrugged, finishing the liquid and setting it on the hob. She waved her hand to ignite the gas flame underneath it almost without a second thought and Carol beamed with pride. 

"So how many stages are there to this?"

"Three. The chicken, the vegetables, and the sauce. Then we combine all three of them and let things marinate a little and keep warm. That's a good opportunity to prepare whatever you're putting it with."

"...Right. You know, just because I could make cookies, it doesn't mean I can handle this." 

Debbie wasn't looking up, focusing on juicing the lemon, but there was a little tremor of uncertainty in her voice all the same. 

Carol gently squeezed her shoulders. 

"I'm absolutely certain that between the two of you, you can produce something entirely edible. It's going to be just fine."

"What if I fuck this up?"

"...Then we'll have something else for dinner," Carol replied gently. "This isn't the be all and end all. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and that's okay."

Lou finished cutting up the chicken, then looked up through her fringe. 

"...Okay, what now?"

"When the poaching liquid is boiling, we add the chicken for six minutes, then we set it aside, squeeze the rest of the pulp out of the lemon over it and leave it to cool."

Debbie nodded, taking a deep breath and looking up. 

"Right. So is there anything I can do while we wait for that to boil and for the chicken to cook?"

Carol smiled, handing her a knife.

"You can chop the mushrooms?"

Debbie pulled a face but nodded, pulling the mushrooms towards herself. Then she took a deep breath and looked up. 

"...Okay so what's the best way to do this? You know, so I don't do it wrong."

Carol picked up her own knife and drew a mushroom towards her. 

"Techniques vary. I like to cut them in half like this, so I can lay them down flat, then slice along like this..."

Debbie watched her carefully, then snagged her own mushroom and tried to copy her. 

"...Okay... I guess I can do that."

Carol smiled and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"You're doing fine. An irregularly sliced mushroom is not going to be the be all and end all of this dish. It will still taste good. Promise."

"How many mushrooms do we need?"

"We need around twelve ounces, but it doesn't need to be precise. There's some flexibility, even to keep the dish balanced. If you've got not quite enough, that's fine, if you have a couple left over it's fine to put them in too."

Debbie pulled a face.

"I don't like the lack of precision in this. There's too much room for... things to go wrong. The cookies were different. I could understand those."

"I don't know, I think it's kind of fun," Lou replied, adding the chicken to the water and pointing at the clock to send the hands spinning and set the timer with a flare of blue. "I like experimenting with the rules and finding out how to bend them to make new things."

Carol pointed at the sink.

"Wash the raw chicken off your hands now please." She shifted to lean back against the counter, watching the two of them. "...I do find it interesting how your attitudes to cooking and baking have quite so much resemblance to the ways you both use magic. But you're both doing very well. With food, and with magic. I'm very proud of you. We both are."

Lou's eyes flicked to her as she tossed her head, trying to get her fringe out of her eyes. 

"...Really? ...I guess you're right. Hadn't thought about it that way really." She dried her hands on a towel and stretched, fingers interwoven. "...So what can I do?"

"I need you to peel and dice the carrots. Frozen are fine, but since we have fresh it only seems fair to use them. Personally I prefer them, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with frozen vegetables. One of the real advantages of modern technology I suppose."

"...Yeah, I guess."

"...I've finished chopping the mushrooms, so what do I do now?"

Carol smiled, moving to check Debbie's handiwork and giving her another gentle reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. 

"Those look great, well done. We're going to grab a nice big heavy pan, and melt a good amount of butter in there. Salted is fine for this, it helps season things, but if you have unsalted that's okay. You just need to add a little more salt to compensate for the seasoning. That's what we're going to cook the vegetables in, but we're going to start with the mushrooms, and season them with garlic powder and a little more salt."

"That seems like a lot of butter?" Debbie asked, giving Carol a sceptical look. 

Carol laughed. 

"There are two things which have a tendency to improve the flavour of things: salt, and fat. There are other things too, obviously, but on the whole the things that taste good are not necessarily the things that are good for us. In this case, we're not using oil or anything else in the vegetables, we're just using butter, and there are a lot of vegetables to cook, so it isn't too bad. There's even more butter in the sauce, and with something like this... if you're going to make it, it's worth making properly. Cutting corners just leads to disappointment."

Debbie carefully measured three tablespoons of butter into the frying pan, turning the heat on underneath it and watching it intently as it began to melt. 

The timer went off, and Carol picked up the pan of chicken in one hand, and a strainer in the other, straining the chicken out. She picked up the two ends of the lemon from where Debbie had left them, and squeezed what little was left out over the the meat. 

Hesitantly, Debbie added the mushrooms to the butter, a handful at a time, scattering them over the pan in an attempt to make sure all of them were in contact with it. 

Carol smiled at Lou. 

"Since Debbie's doing such a good job with the vegetables, would you like to help me make the sauce?"

Lou nodded and stepped up to the stove.

"Alright. What am I doing?"

"Well this kind of sauce comes from a roux, that's cooking flour in butter. It's the basis for a lot of creamy sauces. It can be a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but if you do it'll definitely stand you in good stead going forward." Carol reached for the butter, bringing it within Lou's reach. "We'll start with melting four tablespoons of butter... then we're adding four tablespoons of flour to that, along with some seasoning."

"...Right. What seasoning are we adding?" Lou asked, though she didn't take her eyes off the pan where the butter was melting, gently tilting it side to side. 

Carol smiled, watching her fondly. 

"Garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and a little bit of nutmeg. Nutmeg is often really nice in a sauce like this, it adds a little warmth."

"How much?"

"Half a teaspoon of the first three, and just an eighth of a teaspoon for the nutmeg. It's not good to use too much of that, a little goes a long way with it."

Lou frowned a little, glancing up under her fringe. 

"...Any particular reason?"

"If you have too much it can be toxic," Carol replied with a smile, biting her tongue on a laugh as Lou's eyebrows shot up. 

"Seriously?"

"It's rare, but it can happen. The plant it comes from has a compound in it which is similar to mescaline."

"Nutmeg can get you high?"

"Kindly don't experiment with that. Most cases of poisoning occur in people trying to intoxicate themselves with it."

"...Right, okay. Fair enough. The butter's melted, do I just tip all the flour in or what?"

"Yes, we're adding all the flour, and the spices in now, but you have to keep stirring. That's very important."

Lou nodded, spooning in four tablespoons of flour, and adding the seasoning Carol had specified earlier without needing to ask again. She furrowed her brow as she continued stirring furiously. 

"...It's gone all thick and bubbly. Is that what's meant to happen?"

"Yes, that's perfect. Now, you can make a sauce like this with cream, but personally I find that far too heavy so I use milk instead. It's still silky and smooth, but just more... manageable. Debbie, can you pour in three cups of milk please? Steadily and not too fast. Lou, you need to keep stirring."

The two girls moved in surprising harmony, and Carol looked on proudly as Debbie slowly and steadily poured the cream into the pan while Lou kept up a steady pace. She waited until it was all in then waved her hand to adjust the heat down.

"You're doing an excellent job... Debbie, can you please add the carrots and peas to the pan with the mushrooms? I've turned the heat down under the sauce, it just needs to simmer for two minutes and then we turn the heat off completely. And Debbie, set another timer for six minutes for the vegetables."

Debbie nodded and pointed at the clock, sending the hands spinning round with a brief flare of red. 

"So, what do we do now?" Lou asked. 

Carol grinned and reached for the bottle of sherry. 

"Now we add some of this, just to taste."

Debbie stared. 

"...Butter, cream, and booze?"

Carol winked. 

"That's what makes it real comfort food. So, I'll let you take care of this..." she handed it to Lou and turned to Debbie, "Could you cut the chicken into chunks now? When the timer goes, we'll fold the chicken and vegetables into the sauce, cover it over and leave it to all marry together while we cook something to go with it. What do you think? Biscuits? Rice?"

"...I think rice sounds like it would be good with it?" Debbie suggested hesitantly, and Carol smiled. 

"Excellent, rice it is," she reached for another pan and filled it with water, setting it on the hob to boil. "I'm very proud of you girls, and I'm really looking forward to tasting your dinner. I know Florence is too."

Lou tasted a bit of the sauce off the end of a spoon and nodded, putting the cork back into the bottle of sherry and setting it aside. 

"...Well, thanks for teaching us. It's... well... it's cool. Thanks for being patient and everything. And being able to like... make this to thank you and everything, it's... well. Being able to give something back, or provide for someone... I guess I get why people like it."

Debbie added the chicken and vegetables to the sauce, stirred them through carefully and then put the lid on, folding her hands behind her as she leaned against Lou and looked at Carol. 

"...Yeah. Thanks. I don't know. I know I'm not... really good at this. But it's really nice being able to do something with... well with you, like this."

Carol smiled in return. 

"It's nice being able to do it with you. I'll teach Rindy one day, but she's not old enough yet. Thank you for wanting to learn. When everything's ready, we dish it up and garnish it with pimentos and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper."

"Was this one of the first things you made Florence?"

Carol mused, leaning against the counter as she tried to remember. 

"...Do you know what? I think it was. Before we... were anything more to each other than just friends. She had a little accident and got some broken glass in her hand when we'd only known each other a few days, so I volunteered to make dinner since she was in no state to cook and it seemed like the least I could do for someone who'd taken me in. And I made this. It seemed... well, it was something I knew how to make confidently, and's good, rich food. It was the depths of winter too, so we needed it. Something warming, that makes you feel good to eat," she smiled a little to herself, then looked at the girls. "You know, I'd forgotten that. Thank you for reminding me."

Both of them were staring at her, trying to look uninterested while at the same time lost in the romance of it the way teenagers so often were. 

"...So, how did you two meet anyway? How did this even... happen?" Debbie asked, tucked right up against Lou's side and watching Carol with a shy fascination she couldn't quite hide. 

Carol laughed, shaking her head a little.

"Well now, that's quite the story..."

"What's quite the story?" Florence asked as she walked in, looking enquiringly around at the three of them and handing Carol a martini. 

Carol's gaze slide sidelong to her, a slightly sultry smile dancing on her lips as she accepted the glass and took a sip. 

"The girls were just asking about how we met..."

Florence chuckled and sipped her own drink, settling at the table, eyes dancing. 

"Yes, that is quite the story isn't it... well, perhaps we should start with once upon a time..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Have not tested this one either, but I'd like to. Recipe adapted very slightly from this.
> 
> https://kitchenencounters.typepad.com/blog/2015/05/-dinner-for-don-draper-chicken-a-la-king-style-.html


	3. French Silk Pie

_"Nice place."_

_"Try heating it. There's a room for you upstairs. Your stuff's upstairs too. You know, I borrowed some shit. Figured you weren't using it."_

_Debbie could take the hint, but she didn't want to. Instead she stood in the middle of the cavernous room, feeling strangely small, holding on to the suitcase which wasn't even hers as she looked around and felt the world spin a little, still not quite settled into place._

_Lou glanced back over her shoulder from where she was in the kitchen putting the kettle on, and seemed surprised to see Debbie still standing there._

_"...You okay there, Ocean?"_

_Debbie opened her mouth, then closed it again, unsure really how to find the words for what she was feeling. She shrugged instead, and Lou frowned a little as she slowly crossed back over to Debbie, standing in front of her with her hips canted to one side as those keen eyes looked at her, really looked at her for the first time in a very long time._

_"...What's going on?"_

_Debbie swallowed and laughed, a nervous laugh that didn't hide anything from the person who knew her best in the world._

_"I mean, it's nothing really I guess, I just... I don't think I've felt this lost since I was fourteen."_

_Lou shoved her hands into her pockets and nodded slowly._

_Debbie tried to ignore the way it felt like her world was teetering on a knife-edge._

_Lou sighed, pulling one hand out to gesture at the kitchen. A flash of blue flared from her fingertips, and Debbie heard the kettle start to whistle._

_"No. I guess time didn't stop while you were inside."_

_Debbie managed a smile, a small, fragile, smile, hoping against hope that she wasn't misinterpreting that._

_"...No. It didn't. I guess I took the long way home this time."_

_Lou smiled a little then, and Debbie felt relief crash over her like a wave._

_When Lou stepped forward to embrace her, Debbie let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding, and melted into it. She felt Lou's arms come around her and closed her eyes, pressing her face into Lou's neck and closing her eyes, because the world still felt like it was spinning, but now she felt like she had a direction to follow, like everything had fallen into place. Lou had always been her anchor when she was adrift. It had been that way for thirty years, and prison hadn't changed that. Discovering that was a relief in itself, heady enough to make her sway with it and feel Lou steady her._

_The hug lasted a beat, two beats, three... and then Lou stepped back, pulling away from her and gesturing in the direction of the whistling._

_"I should get that. Want some coffee?"_

_"What kind of coffee?" The words were out of her mouth before Debbie even knew that she was going to say them, and the aching wistfulness took even her by surprise._

_Lou threw a grin back over her shoulder once more._

_"Just like mama used to make."_

_And Debbie smiled a real smile as she found herself feeling lighter than she had in years._

_~_

_"He saw you?"_

_"Oh yeah."_

_Debbie wasn't quite sure exactly how she felt about what she'd done earlier in the evening. Honestly the adrenaline was still running through her. She was in control, she knew that, but there was something about him which reduced that control to rubble, and she'd come to the conclusion that that was what she hated about him most of all._

_Honestly, after everything, it had been a relief to find that their old Chinese place was still open. It wasn't that far from the gallery, and she'd stopped in on a whim to spend what was left of her forty five bucks on Chinese food. It had been disorienting to be greeted by name and to find out that they still remembered her order. Well, there had been all those years living on takeout, especially when it was her turn to cook._

_"Why would you do something like that?" Lou asked around a mouthful of noodles, and Debbie paused, trying to find an answer that Lou might believe when she didn't even really understand herself._

_"...Closure?"_

_"Bullshit."_

_Debbie laughed, and reached into her pocket to slide what used to be a toothbrush across the table._

_Lou picked it up and examined it, testing the sharpness with the pad of her thumb. Her eyes were wide as she glanced back up at Debbie, "Jesus. So did you...?" She made an overhand motion and Debbie shook her head._

_"No. Just a little button."_

_She slid that across the table too, and Lou shook her head._

_"You're insane."_

_"Mmm... maybe. But you love me?"_

_It was supposed to be teasing, but Debbie winced at the rawness of her tone as she missed that mark by a mile. Instead she ducked her head, trying not to meet Lou's eyes, trying to pretend she didn't desperately need to hear that the one person still alive in this world who really knew her still cared._

_Lou sighed and pushed herself up from the table, grabbing her empty plate to clear it, and Debbie felt the silence stretch on, wondering just how badly she'd torpedoed this chance to save the one relationship that mattered._

_"You done with that?"_

_She nodded mutely, and Lou took her plate too, disappearing into the kitchen._

_A moment later she returned and set a dish down in the middle of the table, a dark crust just visible around the edge of a sea of soft whipped cream sprinkled with grated chocolate._

_"...Yeah. I still love you," Lou replied eventually. "That's why I made you this."_

~

When Debbie and Lou walked into the kitchen and found Carol sat at the table with her head in her hands, rubbing her temples and looking a little pale, they weren't quite sure how to react. 

"...Uh... you okay there?" Lou asked hesitantly.

Carol looked up, blinking. "Hmm? Oh... no, I'm alright, thank you... I'm sorry, did you girls need something?"

"We were just going to make some coffee... would you like some?"

Carol shook her head. 

"Thank you but no, I think I might make some ginger tea," she sighed heavily, then looked at the girls again. "...I want chocolate. Do you girls ever just... want chocolate?"

Debbie nodded fervently, and Lou shrugged. 

"Sometimes?"

"Would you like me to teach you to make a dessert?"

"Yes please."

Lou shrugged, hands in her pockets. 

"If you're sure you feel up to it? But that'd be cool. Thanks."

Carol nodded, pushing herself up from the table.

"I'm sure. I need chocolate. I'll teach you how to make my french silk pie."

"I'm good with this." Debbie nodded, eyes a little wide. "Really. So good with this."

Carol laughed as she crossed to the icebox and began rummaging for the ingredients. 

"Well, it's one of my little show pieces I guess, but it's also very good for when you just need a real hit of chocolate... gosh I hope we have a pie crust somewhere... I can teach you how to make one too, but for now a pre-made one would just save so much time..."

She rummaged around and pulled out a pie crust, setting it aside to defrost. 

"If you wanted to make one from scratch, you'd rub butter into twice as much flour, add some sugar, then combine it with milk and an egg to make the pastry. As it is, we're going to jump straight to the good stuff."

"What do you need?" Lou asked, reaching for the cupboards. 

"We're going to need... cream, sugar, eggs, butter, corn starch... chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt," Carol replied, beginning to pull things out. "And I guess we could make some meringues this afternoon maybe, because the pie filling takes five egg yolks... I think Jonathan's birthday is coming up, and he likes meringues, so that would be a nice thing to do..."

"Aren't meringues fussy?" Debbie asked, a little hesitant, and Carol grinned, clicking her fingers and making golden sparks dance around her hand. 

"They can be."

"So what do we do first?" Lou asked, surveying the array of ingredients on the counter.

"Right... who's better at separating eggs?"

"...Probably me?" Debbie volunteered, still a little hesitant about it, and Carol gave her a reassuring smile and a fond squeeze on the shoulder. 

"Alright, good. Could you separate five eggs please? Lou, we need a medium saucepan on the stove and we're going to put... let's see... two tablespoons of corn starch and a third of a cup of sugar in there, along with a teaspoon of salt."

Debbie grabbed two bowls and began carefully separating eggs. She was very methodical about it, taking her time, and Carol had no intention of rushing her. She was quite proud that Debbie had volunteered to do a part of this. Lou, on the other hand, was perfectly happy measuring things into the pan. 

"Do I need to be heating this yet?"

"No, we're going to combine the egg yolks with three cups of heavy cream, then we're going to add that slowly to the pan over a medium heat. The tricky thing with that is it has to be whisked all the time to stop the eggs from scrambling, and it cooks for about ten minutes, so I think you two will probably want to take turns with that."

"Or we could just use magic?" Debbie suggested, glancing back over her shoulder.

"I try to minimise the use of magic in baking where I can..." Carol replied, then pulled a face, "Which I admit makes me sound like a massive hypocrite, but there are some things where adding magic to the mix is just one thing too far. And I know we've spoken to you girls about not taking the power for granted. Little hints of magic to fix things when they go wrong is one thing, but using magic to do jobs you don't want to do is a little more of a different kettle of fish."

"Right, I guess that makes sense..." Debbie turned back to the bowl with a sigh, cracking the penultimate egg.

"Besides, it's kinda fun to know you made something yourself. I mean, entirely by yourself. I know the magic comes from us too but it's like... it's not quite the same," Lou said as she finished measuring things into the pan.

"Right, that's the eggs... how much heavy cream did you say?" Debbie asked, reaching for the cream and the measuring cups.

"Three cups," Carol replied, kissing her on the top of her head as she passed, reaching for the chocolate chips and snaffling one.

Both of the girls looked at her and after a moment she sighed but conceded, handing them each a chip with a smile. 

"Cook's perks. Very important. Taste is everything, and if you don't taste what you're working with and what you're making, then how do you know that it's good?"

Debbie poured the cream in with the eggs, carefully measuring each cup before she poured it in. 

"Am I mixing this?"

"Just combine it, don't over mix. Eggs can be funny."

Debbie nodded and bit her lip as Carol handed her a fork.

"While Debbie's doing that, Lou why don't you get the other things ready? When the custard that we're making is done we have to add the chocolate, butter, and vanilla very quickly."

"Sure thing," Lou turned to the counter, reaching for a bowl. "How much do we need?"

"Four tablespoons of butter, eight ounces of chocolate, and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. That one maybe doesn't need to be measured right now."

Lou nodded and started pouring chocolate chips into the bowl of the scales. She emptied the bag and then pinched another one to eat. She glanced up at Carol and shrugged with a hint of a grin. 

"We were a little bit over."

"Well that's too bad... I suppose we'll just have to suffer for the sake of making a really excellent dessert..." Carol winked as she took one of her own, and Lou passed one to Debbie, leaving a slightly chocolate-smeared kiss on her cheek. 

Carol smiled and didn't say anything, watching the two of them with a fond smile. 

"Okay I think the eggs and cream are combined... did you say medium heat?"

"Medium heat, add them slowly to the pan, and keep whisking the whole time..."

"Should I set a timer for ten minutes?"

Carol pointed to the clock and smiled reassuringly at Debbie, knowing that the girl found it much easier to handle things when there was a level of internal structure, as opposed to making her own judgement calls about how much or little to add, or how long to cook something for. 

"I've set that for eight minutes. We'll check it then and see how it looks."

Debbie nodded and began adding the mixture to the pan, pouring it carefully while she continued whisking with her other hand. 

Lou watched her, having finished measuring out the chocolate and butter, and when Debbie's arm started to shake a little, Lou stepped in to take the bowl from her, helping her pour the rest of the mixture in without incident. Debbie shot her a secret little smile, and Lou's hand came to rest on her waist. 

Debbie leaned into her a little, her right hand still whisking the mixture in the pan as Lou gave her a reassuring nod, then kissed her soft and sweet after a moment's self-conscious hesitation.

Carol felt her heart ache a little, watching them together. She hoped that perhaps when they went back to their own time they'd be able to have moments like this without constantly looking over their shoulders or worrying about who was watching. She was at least glad that whatever faced them in the months and years ahead, they wouldn't face it alone. She and Florence had agreed on that already. Debbie had ties to where she was from, and a family who, even if they weren't the most loving would at least have noticed she was gone. Lou needed nothing as much as a fresh start. They would ask, of course, offer, but Carol didn't think Lou would decide to go back where she had come from. If protecting Debbie was the reason she chose to go to New York instead, well... there were worse reasons, and plenty of thought was going in to how best to keep the both of them safe when they returned. 

"Want me to take over for a bit?" Lou asked in a low voice, and Debbie nodded. 

Lou shifted, letting Debbie step back from the stove and taking over the whisking duties without missing a beat. 

Debbie moved out of the way, rubbing her wrist and pulling a face. She took a minute or two to let it stop aching, then stepped in to wrap up around Lou's back. Lou laughed, but seemed unfazed as she reached back with her spare hand to gently curl her fingers into Debbie's hair, keeping her close. 

"Hey babe, my arm's getting tired... mind taking back over again for a little while here?"

"Mmm... I can do that..." Debbie answered with a sigh, peeling herself away from Lou's back where she'd had her nose buried in the blonde's hair. She took the whisk back, and stepped into position by the stove again, letting Lou wrap up around her back this time, grinning proudly about it the entire time.

The timer pinged at that point, and Carol stepped forward, leaning around to take a look in the pan with a fond smile on her face and a hand resting gently on Lou's shoulder. 

"...Alright, that looks good... so now we take it off the heat and we add the chocolate, butter, and vanilla in. Keep whisking, we don't want the eggs to scramble. It's the secret to a smooth filling."

Lou nodded, stepping back to grab the ingredients she'd already measured out and adding them to the pan while Debbie continued to mix and Carol turned off the hob. 

"...Good, that's very good, well done. Sometimes at this point you'll see white stringy bits in there, but that just means the eggs are a little overcooked. It's very easy to strain out and the filling can still be used. It tastes fine like that. All we have to do now is put it in the crust and chill it for a good while. Then it's ready to eat, but really I think it should be topped with whipped cream at that point. And a little more chocolate. I don't think you can really have too much chocolate."

Lou grabbed the pie crust, pulling it over for Debbie to tip the filling in from the pan, smoothing it out carefully into an even layer. 

"Does this look okay?"

Carol smiled. 

"I think that looks wonderful. I'm already looking forward to it. Did you girls enjoy that?"

Debbie licked the spatula she'd used to smooth out the pie filling, and nodded enthusiastically. 

"...I guess that was pretty fun? And this is just delicious... thank you for... you know, taking the time to teach us."

Carol gave her another quick squeeze, popping another kiss on top of Debbie's head, and then on Lou's. The blonde rolled her eyes and looked exasperated, but she still went into Carol's embrace without hesitation. 

"It's my pleasure. I'm so very proud of both of you. I suppose I just hope it's something you can remember us by."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usual caveat of I haven't tried to make this. But my god I want to. 
> 
> https://phscasilkpie.weebly.com/pictures.html  
> https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/693571/recipe/basic-sweet-pastry  
> https://www.atablefullofjoy.com/french-silk-pie/


	4. Omelette Aux Herbes

_It was the morning after the Met Gala, though possibly that was stretching the definition of morning a little bit. It had been a satisfying night on any number of levels, and Debbie was feeling it this morning as a lingering thrill in her heart and a heaviness in her limbs. She couldn't take the late nights the way she had as a teenager anymore. It had been worth it, though. It had really been worth it. And not just because of the way she and Lou had ended up in bed together afterwards. It felt like everything was finally back on track._

_She gazed at the ceiling, hyperaware of Lou sprawled out next to her in the bed, and thought about how they'd gotten here. It wasn't like she hadn't known she'd fucked up, but that hadn't been enough at the time. She'd had six years of analysing that fuck up from every angle, and regretting it more and more each day. This wasn't just about something she was good at, wasn't just about setting them up for a comfortable future, wasn't even just about revenge. This was about wiping the slate clean. And making the motherfucker pay. There was no way around the fact that her heart had belonged to Lou since she was fourteen years old. Claude Becker was what happened when fights got out of hand. Lou had always deserved better._

_It was difficult trying to work out where to step at times, which parts of their old relationship still held firm and which would give if she tested them. Memories drifted across her mind, and Debbie sighed to herself. There had always been one thing which had been a fundamental part of their relationship, no matter the circumstances, and as she lay there she found herself remembering a recipe she'd learned thirty years before._

_She turned her head to glance over at Lou, but the blonde was still dead asleep, showing no signs of stirring soon. Debbie felt the flicker of an idea, and reluctantly pulled herself away, pressing a kiss to Lou's temple as she got up and grabbed her robe, heading for the stairs. She had a mission._

_She might not have been much of a cook, but she had at least spent enough time watching Lou to have figured out where things were kept. She was pretty sure when she'd looked in the fridge last night in search of some milk for her tea that she'd spotted the key ingredients too. She flicked the switch on the coffee maker and filled her mug, then turned to regard the pots on the windowsill with suspicion. She knew Lou preferred using fresh herbs, and it was definitely a boon right now, but she wasn't sure if she could remember which plant was which and obviously Lou didn't believe in labels. Maybe that was a thing she could suggest after breakfast._

_She was pretty confident about a couple of them at least, and she picked a leaf off one, rubbing it between her fingers and sniffing, smiling as the burst of mint assaulted her senses and woke her up even further. Right. Mint... now, what else... that one looked right, and she picked a leaf off another pot, testing it and nodding to herself. Sage. Now, what else... those two were definitely parsley and cilantro, or as she'd originally been taught to call it, coriander. That just left marjoram, and Lou had been the one to teach her that marjoram and oregano were interchangeable in a pinch. She allowed herself a little snort of laughter at her own wit, and tested another pot. Right. Mint, sage, marjoram (or oregano, she wasn't sure, either way), coriander, and parsley. She scanned the plants growing away happily on the sill again and reached hesitantly for one final pot. Right. Dill. Optional, but good to have, and it was here so there was no reason not to add it._

_She set out the herbs she needed and turned around to set the oven to preheat. Right. Skillet... she knew Lou had a gorgeous cast iron one somewhere that was one of the prides of the kitchen, and fortunately there it was waiting on the top. Okay. Next steps... right. She cut a sprig from each pot and washed them thoroughly, then wrapped them in some kitchen towel to dry while she looked for the food processor. In the end she gave up, discretion was the better part of valour, and also she didn't want to risk waking Lou. That and the pestle and mortar was out on the side within easy reach. She preferred doing it the old-fashioned way anyway - there was less chance of something going wrong, and this was something that felt right to do the way she'd been shown._

_~_

_When Lou woke it was with a little thrill of fear to find the bed next to her empty and the sheets cool. It wasn't that she thought Debbie had left her, not at all, but even now Debbie still found sleep elusive sometimes, and the consequences of that could be... messy. They'd talked about Debbie making sure to wake her if she was having a nightmare, or a flashback, or a panic attack, but Lou knew it was never that simple. If she'd just gone to the bathroom, the sheets would still be warm, and mostly Lou was just hoping Debbie had gotten up to read or something. She still felt bad though. She wanted to be there when Debbie needed her, until the Ocean finally accepted that she always would be, but Debbie didn't always make that easy._

_She relaxed immediately when she heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, pushing herself up in bed and leaning back against the pillows._

_"What, you run out for bagels or something?" she asked with a wry grin, then her eyes widened as Debbie walked in carrying a tray. There were two plates of fluffy omelet, two mugs of coffee, and a vase with a little flower in it that suggested it was Debbie's concession to or attempt at a traditional breakfast in bed. "Deb, you made breakfast?"_

_Debbie set the tray down carefully then took her robe off, hanging it back up and climbing back into bed, greeting Lou with a kiss on the cheek._

_"...Yeah. It seemed... well. It's like they both used to say. Cooking food for someone is a gesture of love. And I might not be able to boil an egg, but I can at least make an omelette. You hungry?"_

_"God yeah, that smells delicious... pass me a fork?"_

_And Debbie laughed as she lifted the tray to set it between the two of them, handing Lou a fork with a kiss, her eyes dancing. "...Dig in."_

_Lou kissed her before she made a stab at the eggs. "...Love you. Even if you do give me the occasional heart attack."_

_"Yeah yeah, you need me to keep you young."_

_"Keep telling yourself that, Ocean."_

~

"Well, now you know how to make something for anytime, something for dinner, and something for dessert, but you haven't learned yet how to make something for the most important meal of the day."

"Breakfast?" Lou asked, looking up interestedly from the book she'd been nose deep in.

"That's right," Florence smiled, "It's important to start the day off right... and I'd like to teach you to make something... that's special to me."

"You mean, like... cooking?" Debbie asked, a little more hesitantly than Lou. 

"I do mean like cooking, but I promise it's very easy," Florence hesitated a moment, then continued, straightening her shoulders in that little tell Carol had grown so familiar with. "I never got the chance to teach Celeste to make it, but it was one of her favourites. I hope you might like it too."

Lou set her book aside and pushed herself up from the couch. 

"...I'm sure we'll love it. Thanks. That's special."

"Shall we come now?" Debbie asked, and Lou gave her a look. Debbie put down her book and stood up too. "...Right. We're coming now."

Carol chuckled, and even Florence smiled as she headed through into the kitchen with the two girls on her tail. 

"So what are we making?"

"Omelette aux herbes."

"Huh?"

"An omelette with herbs and spinach in it."

"Very French."

"Not just French, but Jewish too. It's my food. I used to make it with my mémère, and my maman gave me cuttings for my own herb garden when we settled down to make sure I had everything I needed to make it. It's a dish that ties me back to my ancestors. I don't have many things that do that, and there are fewer that I want to remember, but this is one of the ways I keep their memory alive."

"...We'll do you proud," Lou replied quietly after a moment. 

"...Yeah. Yeah, we will," Debbie echoed, gazing at Florence. "Thanks for... sharing it with us."

"It only seems right," Florence said, looking both of them in the eye, "You're... well. It seems right to teach you. I don't want it to be forgotten, because even if names and faces aren't part of it, it's something that represents where I came from. And I want you to know that you are important enough to be taught it. I didn't get to teach my daughter. But I can teach you."

"We're not taking it for granted."

"What herbs do we need?" Debbie asked, and Florence smiled, sweeping through the kitchen and to the back door. "Come with me and I'll show you."

"...We're using fresh herbs?"

"Yes. They need to be fresh."

"How do we tell which one's which?" Debbie lagged behind while Lou followed closer, eager and interested. 

Florence smiled warmly at the brunette and gave her a reassuring shoulder squeeze. 

"...I'll teach you. It's quite alright, I promise. Nothing wild in my garden, unlike next door. Nothing's going to bite you. Which reminds me, did I ever tell you about the jack o'lanterns?"

"...No...?" Debbie still looked unconvinced while Lou blinked, confused. 

"What's a jack o'lantern?"

"It's when you carve a pumpkin for Hallowe'en. I know Jonathan's got a couple outside his house, are they...?"

"For the most part, they ward off evil, but when evil gets involved things can get a little more complicated. I'll tell you all about it over dinner though. Now, this little bed here is my kitchen garden. It's by the door so I don't have far to go in the rain if I need something fresh. Besides, a witch should have a good kitchen garden, don't you think? Not that I believe in conforming to stereotypes." 

Florence was grinning, and the light dancing in her eyes was infectious, making both girls laugh. 

She crouched, and the girls crouched with her as Florence ran her fingers through the plants which seemed to rustle in greeting at her touch. 

"Now, we don't need to take too much. Every time you have to be respectful with what you take. We need about half a cup altogether when it's chopped, but we're taking it from different plants. Do you recognise any of these?"

Lou shook her head. Debbie tilted hers, narrowing her eyes a little as she considered the sea of green. 

"...I think... that one's basil, right? And that one's sage? I'm not so sure about the others but those look familiar..."

Florence smiled warmly at her. 

"That's right. Well done. We're not using the basil today, but it's very good that you recognise them, and we do need some sage." She picked a sprig and handed it to Debbie, who took it with a surprising degree of reverence. "Here..." she picked a leaf from another plant and rubbed it between her fingers, holding it out to them to smell. "What about this one?"

"Oh, mint. Definitely mint."

"Mint, yes. What kind?"

"...There are kinds of mint?" 

Florence laughed again. 

"There are, but I think an object lesson on types of mint can wait until you are a little more familiar with plants in general. However, we do need some mint." Florence carefully cut a sprig and held it out to Lou who took it carefully. 

"Mint? In eggs? Really?" 

"I promise it won't taste like toothpaste," Florence smiled, then reached for another plant, picking a sprig. "Here, does this smell familiar?"

Debbie sniffed it. "Smells kind of like oregano?"

"It's marjoram, but it's from the same family. You can use oregano in a pinch, marjoram is just a little more delicate. So that's half of our herb mix now, but we still need three more... this is parsley... this spiky one is dill, and this one looks a little like parsley but it's coriander. Those are the six we need, so now let's take them inside and wash them carefully, then we can chop them and see how much we have. Experience tells me that will be about right, and if you've never had the pleasure of working with fresh herbs there's nothing quite like it."

Florence stood and led the girls back into the kitchen. Lou and Debbie both set their small bunches of herbs down on the counter, and Lou tilted her head as she regarded the purple witch. 

"So do you just use the herbs in cooking, or...?" Debbie asked, trying to seem enthuasiastic. She was at least a little less hesitant than she had been when they'd begun.

Florence smiled, "They have magical properties too. Very little in my house has only one purpose."

"...Right. I guess that makes sense. So what do we do first?" Lou asked.

"First, you can wash the herbs," Florence replied, crossing to the fridge. "They'll need time to dry. And we need some eggs."

"How many eggs?" Debbie asked. 

"I think ten should do."

"Ten?!"

"Well, there are four of us, and this is going to be lunch, though I usually make it for breakfast. Ten eggs is enough for between four and six people depending on how big a portion you want. You two are still growing and you need the energy. Goodness knows you burn through plenty of it."

"...Okay, so ten," Debbie shook her head slightly in amazement, but helped Florence pick the eggs out from the icebox and carry them over to the counter while Lou washed the herbs and then set them out on a tea towel to dry.

Florence smiled and opened one of the cupboards to bring out her pestle and mortar. Both girls stared at her. 

"...What's that?"

"Don't you have one of those in the work room?"

"Yes, I do. It's a pestle and mortar. It's for grinding things. This is decidedly not the one from the work room, because although it has applications in both magic and cooking, there is a great deal of risk in combining the two. Quite apart from the fact that some of the materials used in the work room should not be ingested, cooking is a magic all its own, and for the most part it does not benefit from the addition of any... complications."

"Seconded!" Carol called from the lounge, and both girls stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment, as they debated asking about the story behind that emphatic response.

Florence chuckled. "Perhaps we'll tell you that story another time. Now... Debbie since Lou washed the herbs, could you wash this spinach please?"

Debbie took the spinach and went to the sink, while Florence waved her hand at the herbs to accelerate the drying process. She pulled out a board and handed Lou a knife. 

"Here, mince these as finely as you can... when you're finished, we can mince the spinach too. When it's all chopped, we put it in the pestle and mortar and grind them with a pinch of salt. We don't want a puree, but we do want the juices as much as possible."

"Do you like green eggs and ham?" Debbie muttered, and Lou snorted. 

"What was that?" Florence asked, and Debbie looked up as she set the spinach on the towel to dry where the herbs had been. 

"Oh, nothing. There's just this book, a kids book, like... for really young children? It's only got... I think fifty words. It's by this guy called Dr Seuss. He wrote a lot of books like that."

"Oh! Yes, I think I've heard of some. There was one that came out just last year, what was it... Horton Hears A Who, yes, that was it. It was a little young for Rindy, but I know she was reading it to her little cousin."

"Right... wow... it's kind of strange to think of things like that going on now... But yeah, there's this book where a guy called Sam-I-Am tries to persuade someone to eat green eggs and ham, and the guy keeps saying no until he agrees to try them and then discovers he likes them. Just kinda... just a joke really," Debbie shrugged. "I think it's kinda cool to be able to make... well, I'm guessing they're going to be green eggs."

Florence laughed, "Yes, they will be rather green. And if you'd like some ham with them, I'm sure that would be nice too. I think there's some in the icebox. I don't think I'll add some to mine though."

"That makes sense. How are the herbs coming along, Lou?"

"Is this okay?"

Florence leaned over her shoulder to look and nodded. 

"Yes, that's perfect... put them in the mortar now?"

"I think the spinach is dry too?" Debbie offered, and Lou cleared the board and handed Debbie the knife.

"Here you go, your turn..."

"...And I can't cut them too small?"

"No such thing as too small in this situation," Florence smiled reassuringly, and Debbie took a deep breath, nodding as she set to work. 

Lou leaned back against the counter, almost but not quite close enough to touch. She wasn't crowding Debbie, but she had a feeling that being nearby might give her a little confidence boost. 

Florence lifted her cast iron skillet out of the oven and set it on the top, watching the girls out of the corner of her eye. It was nice to be able to see them, shameless and shy all at once, tentatively happy. She was glad that she and Carol had been able to give them that, even if part of her wished they hadn't had to go through the confusion and trauma of being sent back. That being said, she didn't think she would ever feel bad about Lou ending up here, and part of her didn't want to send her back, though she knew it wouldn't be fair. Still. They had to be able to find a better life for her than the one she'd left.

"There we go Debbie... that's a wonderful job, add the spinach in with the herbs now... which one of you would like to grind them all together?"

"I'll do it," Lou volunteered, and Florence didn't miss the grateful smile Debbie gave her. 

"Well done, thank you. Just throw a pinch of salt in there, and remember it doesn't quite need to be a paste, but we do need the juices... Debbie, something a little more familiar for you, can you please crack the eggs into this bowl? We'll beat them with a little bit of water, and some salt. When Lou's finished, we'll fold the greens in, and then it goes in the skillet. We start it off on top to brown the bottom, and then it goes in the oven."

"Right... yeah, okay, I can do that. All ten of them?"

"All ten of them," Florence confirmed, and Debbie drew the bowl towards her before setting to cracking eggs with a slightly more practiced hand than she'd had when she'd arrived.

"How much water do I need to add?"

"About three tablespoons. And a teaspoon of salt."

Florence stood back and watched them both working away, with Debbie beating the eggs and Lou grinding the herbs. When they were ready, she stepped up to intervene in the next step. 

"Wonderful... well done, both of you. Nowe we're going to fold the greens carefully into the eggs, and start heating a little bit of oil on the skillet. Not too much, just enough for a thin layer."

"How hot do we want it?" Lou asked, crossing over to the stove and deftly lighting a burner under the skillet with a careful spark from her fingers. Debbie was gently folding the greens through the eggs, the look on her face one of immense concentration. 

"Just a low heat will be fine. We want to be able to set the eggs and brown the bottom of the omelette a little bit, that's all."

"Right. You ready with the eggs, Deb?"

"Yeah, I think they're ready... They are seriously green though."

Florence chuckled as Debbie moved to pour them carefully into the pan and Lou's eyes widened. 

"Wow, you weren't kidding."

The eggs made it into the pan without a drop being spilled, and Florence smiled at how intently the two girls watched. 

"It only needs about a minute or so on top, and then we put it in the oven for about ten minutes. Then we're ready to eat."

"It smells really good."

"Yeah, it does. And that's simple enough that even I could handle it," Debbie gave a self-deprecating laugh, and Florence pulled her into a gentle hug. 

"You're doing very well, both of you. I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks. It feels good to finally be the kind of person someone's proud of."

"We're very proud of both of you," Carol said from the doorway, and Lou gave her a grateful smile from where she was waiting by the stove and watching the clock. 

"...Thanks. I think honestly, whatever happens, I'll always be really glad I met you."

"Likewise," Florence smiled. 

Debbie nodded and took a deep breath, stepping back from Florence and falling into a chair at the kitchen table. "Same. Thanks."

"Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Americans call coriander cilantro, which makes sense as cilantro comes from the Spanish. Coriander comes from the French, and since Florence is French, she would call it coriander. As do I. Green Eggs and Ham was published in 1960, and given how useful it is as a beginner book, I've chosen to assume it might have uses in Australia too for the sake of a throw away joke which occurred to me partway through the chapter, and which amuses me. 
> 
> Haven't tested this one either:  
> https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/11/recipe-omelette-aux-herbes-spinach-omelet-with-herbs/66130/


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